Hey, ive been on and off trying to understand as much as possible about the way these drugs work. For the last two days i took this st. johns wort. I swear i havent slept worse in my life. Took so many diazepam pills to get just a few hours sleep after the st. johns.

I guess i not goona be using it any longer, only rather sporadically, since it affects pretty much more neurotransmitters than just serotonin reuptake.

Thinking however of two new possibilities

1) try some 5-htp for a while (anyone have any feedback on that)??

2) start and keep on a low dose celexa like 5mg for as long as i see results without the sides i had on the 20 mg intravenous administration.

I mean not being able to sleep for me is a killer. I need all the rest i can get.

Anyone have any feedback on low long term doses like 5mg of celexa ???

I've taken 5-HTP when off ADs, and it helped somewhat. It is definitely calming. I would liken it to a low dose of an SSRI, although it's not as consistent. Too much 5-HTP made me groggy and moody, just as too much of an SSRI did. You might as well try the 5-HTP first and see if it's enough. St. John's Wort did nothing for me except make my hair fall out.

You probably know that you should never mix 5-HTP with SSRIs, SNRIs, or other serotonergic meds, or you could risk serotonin syndrome.

Can't speak for the 5-HTP or Celexa, but I did try St. John's Wort and I felt absolutely awful on it; dizzy, nauseated, anxious (hmm. . .sounds like the start up side effects of several ADs-ha!).

Im so pi**ed off, i couldnt wait and restarted on celexa again today. Took 10 mg and waiting on the usual fatigue and drowsy feeling afterwards. Slept good on 50mg of 5-htp last night but even after 9 hours of restful sleep my brain still isnt working properly. I woke up lost and continue to feel lost during the day.

So pi**ed off. It took me 6 months to recover from the fatigue caused by Cipro use in december. Three weeks ago i started feeling almost able to walk and ride my bike again and this stupid concentration and spatial disorientation/confusion symptoms arise and cause me more depression than ever.

I cant really say i was depressed ever in my life so much. Its such a sick feeling. I just cant understand what the hell is going on eact time im looking at something. Is it my tv, or is it my stereo, or is it my bed, or is it the fridge. It all feels the same- i keep staring and staring and no emotion, no memory, no nothing whatsoever. This makes me mad. I walk inside the house and no matter what i look at it all feels the same. Two days ago i almost lost my way back home, i was cycling along the most famous street in my city and it looked completely different that before, like i was in some other place of the world.


One thing i noticed however is that my verbal abilities increased since all those episodes started. While talking, amazingly creative words come to my mind. I even restarted studying chinese and it seems to easy. Easier than before. Too bad i cant attent classes any more because of this whole body-mind conflict.

Offcourse the most annoying thing is that i cannot find anything related to my issues. Is it too much cortisol in my head? Is it too much or too little serotonin? Is it some other neurotransmitter?

I hope i can last on Celexa this time. My new plan is to switch to something totally irrelevant if Celexa doesnt do the job. I will probably try Stablon or something even more weird.

As far as St.Johns wort- i guess its not for me, took it for 2 days and made me very very restless

Hi Flosed,

I read your other posts. The way I see it, since this is your first episode of depression (assuming it's depression), you will most certainly be off medications once you're feeling better. You should be able to persuade your doc., to get you off of them in 6 months to a year. From what I understand, there is normally a five year gap between the first and second episodes of depression (if a second one is coming) and docs. like to make use of this period by getting patients off their drugs. In many cases there may not be a second depression in a person's life. Meds. are generally continued only in those cases that have been established as chronic.

Again, taking antidepressants is probably the best recourse at this stage. If what you are suffering from is in fact depression, it will resolve through AD therapy (though it may take time and you will have to be patient). If it isn't depression, chances are that it may resolve on its own after a few months. In any case, you should be feeling better and planning to go off meds. eventually. Hope this helps put your mind at some ease.

p.s. incidentally, I was on ADs after my first depression in 1990 for a year and then I went off. My next depression was in 2003. It resolved on its own without treatment. My third attack was in 2008. It did not resolve on its own and I've just started lexapro. So you'll notice that the time between subsequent attacks keeps getting shorter and in my case I'll have to be on ADs for the rest of my life.

This post has been edited by Rahul: Jun 21 2008, 01:13 PM

.... and the other warning is that you should not take St John's Wort with any other ADs - it has an effect much like the MAOI class and there are potentially serious interaction problems.
Just thought I'd add that in there...